Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law

by Gary M. Lavergne

In 1984, a Moroccan national named Abdelkrim Belachheb walked into Ianni's Restaurant, a trendy Dallas nightclub, and gunned down seven people. Six died. Despite the fact that the crimes occurred in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574411675
• ISBN13: 9781574411676
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Examines all sides of this horrific incident

Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders And The Texas Multiple Murder Law by Gary M. Lavergne (Director of Admissions Research, University of Texas - Austin) is the straightforward accounting of a 1984 multiple murder in Texas - when Moroccan national Abdelkrim Belachheb walked into a restaurant and shot seven people, six of whom died. The confessed and convicted defendant could not be sentenced to death due to a quirk in the state law, and could only be given life imprisonment - arguably "worse than death." House Bill 8, the "multiple murder" statute, was passed directly in response to the case. Worse Than Death examines all sides of this horrific incident, including the legal, political, and cultural debates concerning it. This criminology and judicial case study has direct relevance to present day concerns about violent immigrants and our contemporary legal system nationwide.